A police officer has responded angrily after Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves questioned the security bill that the police force sent the government for security at the Cricket World Cup in June.
Gonsalves said on radio on Sunday that the bill was EC$780,000, adding that he has asked acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams for “a realistic document”.
However, one police officer who contacted iWitness News was angered by the PM’s comments.
“I need my money because I have a family and my salary can’t help us at the end of the month,” the police officer told iWitness News.
“I worked from 11:30 the Sunday until after 2 the Monday morning. They are always overworking us and nothing good for us at the end of the day,” the officer said.
“After the volcanic eruption and COVID, he promised police officers $500. Up to now, we can’t get that money and look at this again. Police officers are dogs in the sight of this government although we watch over the PM day and night,” the officer told iWitness News.
Gonsalves said on WE FM’s Issue at Hand on Sunday that he had asked the police chief to give him “a realistic document in terms of payments”.
He suggested that the rate might have been set particularly high because the people involved might have thought that Cricket West Indies, rather than the government, would foot the security bill.
“… apparently, what happened, there are some persons who … when they were discussing for the issue of security, I don’t know if they felt that all of this thing is going to be borne by Cricket West Indies, and the numbers — I asked the commissioner because the numbers came to me, the bill is about $800,000 — 780,000 for security,” Gonsalves said.
The prime minister said that some people logged as much as 20 hours of security work a day at rates of $200, $150 and $100 an hour.
“So, I asked the question, … somebody working 20 hours a day, were they not being paid for that month?”
The prime minister said he was not saying that the police officers should not be paid.
“So, I said to him (the commissioner), I don’t know what the number should be. He’s the Commissioner of Police. I tell him to give me an assessment. He says, ‘You know, it’s a ticklish one.’
“And I said, ‘Well, it may be ticklish, but you have to advise me.’ So, I have this thing on my desk. I mean, how can I take 20-something thousand dollars to pay a senior officer, for example — and there are others going down the line — in the same month in which you’re being paid your salary?
“If you work 20 hours a day on West Indies Cricket, in security, surely you can’t give an hourly rate as if you are a lawyer when you have your salary already.”
Gonsalves said he would pay the amount if the police chief insists but he would have to seek Parliament in the form of supplementary estimates “and tell the country what I’m being asked to approve. I wouldn’t do it in secrecy.
“I’m not begrudging anybody any money by I want everybody to be reasonable,” the prime minister said.
“Could it be reasonable for somebody, you’re getting your salary as a police officer, and I’m talking from top to bottom because different hourly rates apply — I’m not spreading out anybody; I ain’t calling no name.
“I want to know if you work 20 hours a day on this and you’re charging $150 an hour, if you went to the accountant general and said, ‘Well, I don’t want to get double pay.’
Gonsalves, who was asked about the payment of police officers, said he was not going to raise anything about it.
“… but I have to speak. I can speak more … but I don’t want to speak more. I don’t want to, cause we have so many issues, so many challenges. I want this thing to be sorted out, and I want it to be sorted out quickly, but I find it difficult to accept the numbers which have been sent to me,” the prime minister said.
Was a rate negotiated with the officers before the games? If there were no negotiations, who is to blame? The police are probably looking at the rates being paid elsewhere on the Caribbean for such events. The government and the officers are both to blame if an hourly rate wasn’t established at the onset. Find a figure that’s reasonable and acceptable to both parties.
Police have every right to be angry in the face of clear unjustness, after Ralph Gonsalves fired civil servants over covid 19 vaccines; and take way their accumulated workers benefits, then he goes and celebrates Carnival as usual during the same period. Then he locked up all the people who were protesting his policies under false pretense. Then he wouldn’t even take born Vincentians in the country during the pandemic, a once in a lifetime crisis. Violent crimes rising daily all over the country with no kind of measures to stem the tide. A man get shot in his own yard by ULP cronies, who got off scot free because he say so. ULP allegedly building million dollar projects all over the place and unemployment remains at almost 50%. Gonsalves spitefully left the Ottley Hall marina workers waiting for Christmas pay last year. Everybody should be angry.
So many questions; so little time.
Then, this bit did it for me: “…I don’t know if they felt that all of this thing is going to be borne by Cricket West Indies…” Who is “they”? And why would the price of security slide on the basis of who is paying? The price is the price, is it not?
This development is so ghetto. And there I was during WCC watching and admiring the local version of Camelot as the celebrities and political elite moved about among the ordinary and sashayed on the beautiful grounds.
The matter of SVG hosting World Cup Cricket was not an unexpected and unplanned climate change disaster so why this public ugliness in the aftermath? This was an event that was long in the coming and perfectly amenable to paced and sober planning by the nation’s finest administrators.
Just as an aside, do the police get extra pay for watching over a good, beloved man “day and night”? Maybe he doesn’t need all that much watching over….
What’s this about broadcasting that he will go to Parliament and not access the money in secrecy? Secrecy? Is he saying that secrecy is the norm but that he will depart from it in this instance?
dem alone must live a good quality life, get dem salary and all allowances while others must suffer , hungry and dead . My mother and her friends words were – – – they don’t want da man day because he go be a wicked man, it is written , vengeance is Mine says the Lord, I will repay., Be still and know that I am God.
The pm think he can trick and abuse people all the days of their lives but he can’t fool everyone, you continues to spit in the face of “your police” like you so affectionately say, but your words and actions says different. Police keep this nation safe and you but yet you treat them like peasants. He only wants and loves the police when they beating on protesters or turning a blind eye to to high levels of departmental and governmental corruption. We see straight through you…
Total BS, read what the PM said. Look at the usual ULP word salad where they stiff people like slaves. Lawyers have more right to pay than police officers? Because you getting your regular salary, you can work 12 hours extra on top of that without pay? Can’t you do extra work to make ends meet in the killing Gonsalves economy. This is outrageous. Fool a talk but na fool a listen.
Seems like the police management and the government should have establish a payment plan in advance for the extra security demands arising from the cricket match. Allowing each officer to set his own price after the match is a crazy thing. That is no way to run a country.
The most painful thing in all of this is if Labour Party did not tek ar yo
in dem party after ar yo second attempt to join them , we country would ha e been a better place.,
Maybe e see d handwriting on d wall as officers too r gearing up to to to d poles as soon as it announce.
Saw b reasonable wid d workers to who were fired from their job and pay dem what d high court order and stop going around d mulberry tree.
Shouldn’t the cost of security been calculated prior to the event.
Even a ballpark (no pun intended) estimate?
Gonsalves no longer cares about the local police as he did before because he now have a full contingent of venezualen ” gold buyers ” in the country should local police seek their justice
It would appear that both the Government and the police board acted inappropriately by not putting in place a memorandum of understanding with respect to each party obligations
before the services were performed. This is ordinary referred as a contract. If there was a contact in place prior to the performance of the services. That would have avoided any misinterpretion of each party obligations.
What do you put first the horse or the cart? In the eyes of a reasonable man and that of rightful thinking persons, one would have put the horse first rather than the cart. It makes sense with respect to the sequence of events.
The way things are done in our country, the logistical sequence of events sometimes are not followed. This often resulted in putting us in a bind which often result in unintended circumstances as in the case of the dispute which is the subject of discussion.
A proper contract would have addressed the houly rates, and overtime premium which would have left little to misinterpretation as we have seen. This is the reasons why the courts are are always a busy place and law makers live off the misfortunes of others. We often do things in a haphazard way requiring interpretation of statutes and the requirements of the intervention of law to determine justice.
As individual we do not believe in formality, we leave too much to interpretation rather than having it written in stone. We believe in word of mouth and this is how we all fall down and get decimated. Word of mouth should then be a thing of the past where formality is a requirement.
If ULP/Gonsalves loose the election they/he will not relinquish power. They/he control the tallying of the votes. They/he control electoral college. He controls the governorship. He/they control the judicial. He orchestrated a majority in parliament. So everything is up to the marxist communist and his party.
There are 24 hours in a day, police officers are paid for 8 of those. That leaves 16 hours outside of regular work. How can an officer claim for 20 hours when he is already paid a salary for 8 of those hours? Use your heads people, and stop making yourself out to be a fool in public.
This Government is very disorganized, and unprepared, go ahead give them another quarter of a century in power and see where u guys will be as a country by 2050. Make a guess the same F…ing place. No roads, No healthcare, high unemployment and high crime .